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Adjusting ride height of ‘20 R1250RT?

R

rabbitgtibbar

New member
Hello all,

Bought my bike new back in June, put 248 miles on it in three weeks, had a COVID-inspired DMV SNAFU when my out of state temp tags expired, torn the meniscus in my knee before that was resolved, and now she sits with only those 248 on her still. I’m looking to get back on it in the next few weeks, but one thing I did want to address is the tip-toeing I have to do at stoplights. I know I can spend a few hundred bucks at the parts counter to have a seat with less padding that *might* fix my issue, but one thing a salesman said in passing as I was shopping has stuck with me. He had mentioned that, as part of their delivery service, they’d “set the ride height”. I didn’t end up buying from that dealer, so that option is off the table.

Looking at the front forks, it seems they’ll be fairly easy to adjust. It’s the rear that is giving me pause. I’ve heard variously that I can adjust the height via the Dynamic ESA feature, that I can adjust it mechanically like it’s a coil-over, or that I’ll need a kit from BMW. Any insight, pointers, and/or help would be greatly appreciated.


TL;DR: How do I adjust the ride height of my bike?
 
rabbitgtibbar said:
Hello all,

Bought my bike new back in June, put 248 miles on it in three weeks, had a COVID-inspired DMV SNAFU when my out of state temp tags expired, torn the meniscus in my knee before that was resolved, and now she sits with only those 248 on her still. I’m looking to get back on it in the next few weeks, but one thing I did want to address is the tip-toeing I have to do at stoplights. I know I can spend a few hundred bucks at the parts counter to have a seat with less padding that *might* fix my issue, but one thing a salesman said in passing as I was shopping has stuck with me. He had mentioned that, as part of their delivery service, they’d “set the ride height”. I didn’t end up buying from that dealer, so that option is off the table.

Looking at the front forks, it seems they’ll be fairly easy to adjust. It’s the rear that is giving me pause. I’ve heard variously that I can adjust the height via the Dynamic ESA feature, that I can adjust it mechanically like it’s a coil-over, or that I’ll need a kit from BMW. Any insight, pointers, and/or help would be greatly appreciated.


TL;DR: How do I adjust the ride height of my bike?
Click to expand...

remove the front seat and turn the height adjuster bracket (the big one with the two rubber grommets at the right at the end of the tank) over from high to low. It just clips in and out. No screws to move.

If it's already on low replace the black rubber grommets on the ends with some off center hole ones from the aftermarket for 20 bucks. This will allow even more adjustment variations.
 
My experience based on a R1200GSA with dynamic suspension.... the more pre-load you add the higher the bike will be. The minimum pre-load setting will make the bike as low as it can go. On my bike the pre-load settings are displayed as: one helmet = minimum pre-load, helmet and luggage = medium pre-load, two helmets = maximum pre-load. On my bike the difference between minimum and maximum pre-load is approximately an inch.

The purpose of the pre-load adjustment is not to raise and lower the bike to accommodate shorter riders. It is there to have the suspension accommodate different weight loads and the handling characteristics of the bike. So, if you find you can only safely ride the bike in the lowest setting, then you are losing the ability to respond to heavier loads or accommodate your handling preferences.
 
akbeemer said:
My experience based on a R1200GSA with dynamic suspension.... the more pre-load you add the higher the bike will be. The minimum pre-load setting will make the bike as low as it can go. On my bike the pre-load settings are displayed as: one helmet = minimum pre-load, helmet and luggage = medium pre-load, two helmets = maximum pre-load. On my bike the difference between minimum and maximum pre-load is approximately an inch.

.
Click to expand...

Because of the too long sidestand we have our ESA set on Two Helmets to jack up the rearend of our R1200RS bikes.
I thought the new RT had self leveling suspension so I don't know if the new RT has the option to raise the rearend.
 
Last edited:
Lee said:
Because of the too short sidestand we have our ESA set on Two Helmets to jack up the rearend of our R1200RS bikes.
I thought the new RT had self leveling suspension so I don't know if the new RT has the option to raise the rearend.
Click to expand...

The new RT1250 does have self leveling suspension which on the dash is labeled auto. In addition there are settings for min and max which I believe are related to spring preload. I leave mine on auto and to date have not tried the min or max settings.
 
Lee said:
Because of the too long sidestand we have our ESA set on Two Helmets to jack up the rearend of our R1200RS bikes.
I thought the new RT had self leveling suspension so I don't know if the new RT has the option to raise the rearend.
Click to expand...

olgry1 said:
The new RT1250 does have self leveling suspension which on the dash is labeled auto. In addition there are settings for min and max which I believe are related to spring preload. I leave mine on auto and to date have not tried the min or max settings.
Click to expand...

Annie's 2017.5 R12GS has the Min-Auto-Max set-up instead of the system I described. Mid model year they hade a few software changes. For example, besides the change in the dynamic suspension she has hill assist and I do not.
 
Thanks for all the help, all. Sorry it took me so long to reply. Got crushed at work this week.

I had already flipped the seat adjuster over to set it to “low”, but the bike was still too high for me. I found setting the Dynamic ESA to “MIN” (it was on “AUTO”) did the trick. As soon as I did, it dropped about an inch. If I find I still need a bit more, I’ll get those off-set bushings.
 
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